Shorinryu Sensei

No problem, glad to help. Of course tournaments differ from one to another, but personally, fancy, flashy and INEFFECTIVE technique does not score well with me. Good solid technique, along with form (stances, etc.) does. But I've been to tourneys that encourage flashy crap and want the judges to score it higher. I won't, and have backed out of judging specific events if that is the case. I'd suggest just keeping the thought in your head while preparing and practicing for the tourney on what exactly the technique you are doing is in a real situation, and how would you use the weapon REALISTICALLY in a fight. Splits, back flips, cartwheels, etc don't impress me, unless you're in a gymnastics tournament. In a karate rournament..do karate! Good luck..train hard..and let me know how you do.

I've been a weapons judge for around 20 years now, and the one best piece of advice I can give you is this. Make sure you really know how to use the weapon! Time after time..white belts to black belts..I've seen some of the most HORRENDOUS weapons technique you can imagine! The biggest mistake I see from all belt levels is this. When you do a block with the weapon, make sure the "blade" of the weapon is running along the part of the arm that is actually going to come into contact with the attackers weapons (ie: katana). I, as a judge, will immediately give you a low score if you do an upward/high block and the blade of the sai, kama or tonfa is in FRONT of the forearm, and not along the top of the forearm where the attackers weapon is going to hit. Also, learn the proper name of the weapon. Nunchauku are the most normally mispronounced weapon there is. If you come up to me at the beginning of your presentation and tell me your going to do a "Numchuck" kata...you are doomed to a low score from me immediately, no matter how good your technique is. I could go on and on with this because I'm a picky "bugger" when it comes to this subject..but I'm a bit of a perfectionist, in that if you're going to compete, then you should know what you're doing. Good luck and I hope this helps.

The way that I teach point sparring in my dojo, and explain it to the students is this. Point sparring teaches you accuracy, timing, control and speed. It is basically a game of "Tag, you're it!" We also do continuous kumite where you just spar for a set amount of time and don't stop for points, other than to acknowledge to your opponent that he got you. We also use full contact boju gear, designed for all out punches and kicks to the body and head. Sweeps are allowed, but again, we have to have certain ruiles in effect to prevent injuries. As for tournamenyts, what I tell my people is that they can participate if they want to, but they need to keep in mind that just because they bring home a trophey, that doesn't mean they can handle themselves on the street. The opposite is also true of course. Tournaments are viewed as "play time". Go (if you want to that is), meet some nice people. see different systems, make some friends..and above all..have some FUN! But keep clear the distinction between real fighting, and play fighting. I have very few people that participate in tournaments.

Well I-Self, keep in mind that those "lanky" pics were taken in 1978..some 25 1/2 years ago, so I'm not quite as lanky as I used to be! lol Then, I was around 210lbs. Now..240. I'm not in contact with Sensei Ohl any longer, but he and Sensei Knoblett in Seattle told me many storys about Sensei Lindsey and his fighting prowness. A quick question for you please. Two former students of my origional Sensei (Dennis Miller) are, as I understand it, training uder Sensei Lindsey now and are 6th Dans. They are Steve Kaluza of Montana, and Jack Labbe..formerly of Montana also...but I don't think he's still in this state. Do you know them perhaps? Possibly we should take this off the forum and use IM..before the admin gets his pantyhose in an uproar! lol

I had the opportunity to travel to Willow River, Mn and train with Sensei Ohl in (guessing here) 1988 or so, give or take a year. He promoted me to my Nidan. I also was under the same association in which Sensei Lindsey was the head for several years, but quit that association because of the politics that were going on at the time. Sensei Ohl quit at the same time for the same reasons I understand. I have never worked with Sensei Lindsey, but have great respect for the man and his knowledge. I have several videos he sent me during my time in the association, and the stance length is the same as what I do, which is shorter and more natural than most systems I have seen. One thing to consider with both Sensei Lindsey and Ohl is this. Neither of those men were under Sensei Kuda for a great amount of time. As Sensei Ohl told me, he and Sensei Lindsey were primarily under Sensei Fuse Kise for the majority of their training, and then switched in the mid-80's toi Sensei Kuda because of things that Sensei Kise was doing to Kenshikan. My information is all second hand unfortunatley, but I remember long talks with Sensei Ohl at his dinner table, or over the phone on this subject and the differances between the two systems. I currently am under Sensei Larry Mason, recently moved to Maryland. If you'd like to check out our associations website, you will find a couple of pictures at the bottom of myself and Sensei Kuda taken in June of 1978 in Havre, Montana during Sensei Kuda's first visit to the United States. I'm the tall, lanky guy..can't miss me! lol http://www.geocities.com/rohai.geo/page.html

We're getting a bit off subject here. As far as I know, the only place that has ever required black belts to register as "deadly weapons" is on the island of Okinawan a few years after WWII, and that was only for a short time. The reason they did this is because there were quite a few US Marines taking various karate classes, and there were many challenges being issued by them to other Mrines, resulting in beat up servicemen, which the military frowns upon. so in an attempt to to curtail this, they started the "registering your hands" thing..and it didn't work, and was later dropped. As far as I know, it has never been a law in the United States (can't speak for other countrys) and is just a popular myth that seems to keep perpetuating over the years. Now, as to the laws regarding self-defense, below is the law for Montana where I live, and all of the other states as far as I know, are similar in their wording and requirements for a self-defense situation. 45-3-102. Use of force in defense of person. A person is justified in the use of force or threat to use force against another when and to the extent that he reasonably believes that such conduct is necessary to defend himself or another against such other's imminent use of unlawful force. However, he is justified in the use of force likely to cause death or serious bodily harm only if he reasonably believes that such force is necessary to prevent imminent death or serious bodily harm to himself or another or to prevent the commission of a forcible felony. I hope this helps.

The only required sparring equipment we use in my dojo is a groin cup/supporter.

My experiences with judging and referring numerous Ed Parker Kempo tournaments haven't been very pleasant. I've found them VERY prejudiced and biased towards their system, even to the point of "loading up the judges" so that they would assign judges that would favor their system in the black belt division. I'm sure this isn't the "norm" for all kempo tournaments (or I hope not anyway), but it has been my own personal experience, and I won't judge/ref another of their tournaments because of it. As to your question, kempo likes fast, flashy techniques, but hates high kicks flying kicks, so I'd recommend avoiding those. Power is good, but speed is better..so a combo of both of those would be a good choice I think.

An EXCELLENT post I-Self! However I'd just like to clarify this statement... I have been involved exclusively for the past 29+ years now, under the teachings of Sensei Kuda and have trained in one form or another under several high ranking students of his, and under Sensei Kuda himself on 2 occasions. Not that this makes me an expert on the system, but it does give me a personal perspective on the system and it's workings. Shorinryu Matsumura Kenpo, as taught by Sensei Kuda, does not have, or use, any deep, rigid stances. We utilize shorter stances found in Shorinryu with (of course) bent knees, and are very relaxed and natural. I just wanted to clarify that point, and bow to your knowledge of your post. [/b]

My apolgies to all on my sort of flying off the handle in my previous post, but I've seen so many people misspell or misspeak nunchaku over the years, and it's one of my pet peeves. ESPECIALLY from blackbelts! As to your question Tom on those books..no, I haven't seen them. I tend to shy away from most books about technique because they aren't relavent generally, to what I practice. Not to say they are bad..just not what I do.[/b]

First of all..if you have 6 years of TKD and are a 1st Degree Black Belt and Jr. Olympian and Team USA Qualifier (whatever that is), then I think it's high time you learned to spell the name of the weapon PROPERLY!!! It's spelled NUNCHAKU, not nunchuk...not numchucks..or any other form. As a tournament weapons center (head) judge for the past 20 years or so, when a competitor comes up to me and tells me he's going to do a "numchuk" kata..he has just made the decision to not get any higher than an 8 out of a possible 10 score from me because he doesn't even know the name of his weapon. As for a website on kata for the NUNCHAKU..I don't know of any, and you've managed to add more reinforcement to my perceptions that certain systems, and instructors, have no business teaching kobudo/weapons to certain people.

We don';t test with a "minimum" number of classes as a guideline, but there is a loosely followed MINIMUM time period which is followed. 9-7th kyu ---MINIMUM of 2 months before grading. 6-4th kyu ---MINIMUM of 3 months before grading. 3-1st kyu ---MINIMUM of 4 months before grading. As I said, this is a loosely followed guideline and not set in stone by any means. If the student, after the above time period passes, isn't ready to test, then he/she doesn't test. Currently, I have one student (51 years old) who has been a 3rd kyu for nearly 4 years now, just because he hasn't quite "clicked" on where I want him to be for the next belt level. He is my most dependable student in attendance (rarely misses a class) and he's OK with the fact he's not where he needs to be, yet trys hard every class. I told him the first of this year that I'm going to do everything in my power to get him where I want him for his Shodan before the end of 2004. This includes private classes beyond regular classes if I have to, and I won't be charging for these. He smiled at me..and said "GREAT!"

*sigh*...all I can say is that I feel you are misinformed and mistaught. Sure, some martial arts systems have religous overtones or teachings..I believe (correct me if I'm wrong here) that Shorinji Kempo is one of them. Okinawan system, such as Shorinryu that I practice, have no religion in them that I am aware of. Yes, the bow at the beginning/end of kata, or various times during the class, is a sign of respect and greeting to your fellow practioners of the art, and yes, it is also often times used as a sign of respect for past practioners, but does not have any religous significance that I'm aware of. Think of the bow this way. In the Western part of the world, we shake hands when we greet each other. In the East, it's a bow. Basically, the same significance. My opinion, but if you don't care for kata, I'd suggest getting into a system, such as a reality based system, where kata isn't stressed, or taught at all.

Now this is a differance in thinking here. Personally, I like it when a student of mine out performs me in sparring or kata. Do you know why? Simple. I taught him, and he has surpassed me on some level. This, to me anyway, reflects that I am doing a good job..or at least, the job of a sensei, which is to pass on his/her knowledge of an art to others. I rarely have a student beat me in sparring, and kata is somewhat subjective of course, but when a student (my sempai makes me do this) gives me a good run for my money in sparring, or defeats me (maybe once every 5-6 matches)..then I slap them on the back, tell them something like "Excellent job!", and get warm fuzzy feelings all over my body because of it.

Agreed! Another thing I thought of was this. I think that if you think kata sucks and is of no more use than just a dance, then your sensei isn't teaching your kata correctly and explaining the purpose and revelancy of the kata to training. It's entirely possible, and I've seen this many times before, that your sensei wasn't taught properly himself, and is only passing on the philosophy that HE was taught.

Of course, different tournaments will have different rules, so all I can speak for are the ones that I personally judge and referee. Whether punches or kicks, blind techniques are are dangerous..thus they are not allowed at (some?) tournaments. The tournaments I work at, you will be given one warning for your first blind technique, and the second one will disqualify you from that match. If on your next match, you continue to throw blind techniques, you could possibly be disqualified from the rest of the sparring competition. I generally am the center ref in sparring tournaments, and judge everything from beginning kids, to adult black belts. yes, I've disqualified people that continually use blind techniques, because I've seen people knock out their opponents teeth, break noses, injure knees, crack ribs, etc by doing them. I think it's a good rule and should be strictly enforced. Now, if you're talking full contact bouts..sure, whatever works!

Referring to upper Dan grades, I would guess that the majority of them just have no interest in competing anymore and have nothing to "prove" by competition. Personally, I'm 51 years old and have been at this for 29+ years now, and I enjoy judging and referring more than competing. However, in this particular area, I know of several people with fairly high legitimate rank, and are over 50 that still actively compete, and usually win over lower Dan ranks and much younger competitors. For me, it's enjoyment enough to watch these "old foggies" like myself go in there and whip up on these youngsters! lol Personally, I don't see why there is any sort of age limit on kata competition. Whether you are 30, or 80...kata is kata, and if you do it well, then enter. Age and rank shouldn't be a factor at all. Sparring can be a different issue though, and that is a decision you need to make for yourself.

Kata movements are merely symbols? Sorry, but I'll disagree with that. Every movement and motion in a kata has a real life purpose as a technique, that IF USED PROPERLY, and in the RIGHT SITUATION, is effective. Now, having watched some dozens of different system doing different kata, I can understand why you would make this statement, as there are many systems (no specific systems mentioned here) that will use, for example, and upward block where the forearm is parallel to the ground at its full extension..and that's just plain bad technique if you tried to use it to block anything harder or heavier than a punch. For example, when I was much younger (and stupider with good insurance coverage) and a Shodan, I had a student take a wooden regulation baseball bat..looked him straight in the eye and told him to hit me as hard as he could in a downward motion to my head. Keep in mind here that we, in the system that I practice, DO NOT have our forearm in an upward block parallel with the ground. Rather, our forearm is at a 45 degree angle to the ground so that a striking weapon, such as a bat, hits the forearm, then slides down to the side. Anyway, back to the student with the bat. He is nearly my size, and being the good, obedient student that he is, came at me full power and tried to squish my brains to a pulp with the bat. I executed the upward block AS WE DO IT, and it sucessfully deflected the blow to the side and didn't touch my head. Did it hurt? OH YEAH..hurt like hell and was black and blue for 2 weeks afterwards..but it did not break the skin, touch my head, or break my arm..as the block is designed to do. It also left my student off balance with his followthrough, and in a real situation, I feel he was wide open for a counter attack. I have absolute faith in that block and would use it readily in the same situation. Sure, the technique in kata are the "perfect" application of the movement and in a real situation may not look EXACTLY like they do in the kata, but will the technique be uable in a real fight? Absolutly yes! Maybe in Goju this is true, but don't lump all systems into the same catagory as what you are doing, and what you perceive as correct. Again, maybe this is true of Goju, I really don't know, but I'm 6'6" (198cm) tall and weigh around 240lbs, and the techniques work fine for a man my size, or for a woman 5' tall and 90lbs. Sure, bodysize makes for some adjustments, but generally, I don't believe that is that big of a differance. Yes, the forearm smashing into the chin or throat of an opponet is one of the applications of a upper block, but so is an arm break/hyperextension, an uppercut to the jaw and probably several other things. To say it's not an effective or usable block is simply not correct. Again, maybe in goju..... I've been in a number of real fights (not the ring) since beginning karate training back in 1975, and I have successfully used locks, blocks, sweeps and of course striking techniques to stop my attackers. Have you ever watched the TV show..."Cops"? I';d suggest you do, as those people, men and women, use joint locks against people that are trying to escape on a regular basis..and htey work! Yes, getting your groin out of the way is ALWAYS the best method..no argument there, but the begining hand motions of the kata have several applications which you may not be awre of. They are a "symbol" (figured you'd like this one) of being prepared and ready. They are also a method of breaking a persons grasp (if you know how to do it anyway) of your chest/shirt/gi. As far as I know, there is no religous meaning to the move at all, but that will vary from one system to another I suppose. Again, don't lump all systems into the same narrow field as you are putting them.

I think if we're talking "karate", then yes, Shotokan is probably the most popular. Unless of course you want to classify TaeKwonDo (all of the various forms of it) as "karate, then I think TKD would win. If we're talking "martial art, then I'd suspect TaiChi perhaps?

Agreed. I wouldn't even want to guess how many black belts I've seen in my 29 years in the arts, that (in my opinion of course), that had the skill level of a low to mid-level colored belt.

Ahhhhhhh Grasshopper...give it time and it will come. I don't recall how long you've said you have been practicing, but keep tyring different things. It will begin to flow eventually, and get to the point you won't think about what you are doing..it just happens.

Mean? Why would they be mean because they are in a Mcdojo? Misguided..yes. Unfortuantely, your average non-martial artist (or novice) has little or know idea of what is good, or bad about a martial arts school. They see a uniform and a belt, listen to the * that comes out of that guys mouth and take it as gospel, and then signs the papers. As far as they know..it's good stuff.

Something else to consider Jeff, is that you may have latent tendencies towards being dominated by a woman. Do you get excited when you spar with them? Sorry...I just couldn't resist! I've had a number of very attractive women in my class in the past (Jenni...*sigh*), but I've never felt they were MORE attractive than any other woman I found attractive. The confidence factor is definitely a plus..I'll easily agree with that. Usually the fact they are more physically "in shape" than the average woman on the street also helps, as I'm a proud, card carrying member of the Shallow Men's Society of America.

Sorry, I don't recognise any of those names. I'm currently under Sensei Larry Mason and with this organization: http://www.geocities.com/rohai.geo/page.html There are some old (1978) pictures of myself and Sensei Yuichi Kuda, whose teachings I still follow. I have trained primarily under Sensei Dennis (Denny) Miller, but have also worked briefly with Sensei Greg Ohl (Minnesota) and Sensei James Knoblett of Seattle. Are those people you listed under Sensei Kise and the Kenshinkan organization?

Yes, I think so. Is he out of Seattle? Where I'm located at, I don't get out much and don't have a lot of opportunity to train with others, and there are many different offshoots to Matsumura Seito.